The second installment of the ambitious CNN documentary series "Black in America" (CNN, 9 p.m.) presents stories about the struggles of African American women and families.

The stories in the series, anchored by Soledad O'Brien, are sometimes so random that it seems as if they don't fit together. But rather than a grand statement about the race, it's a scattershot snapshot at the way some people live today.

The documentary was in the works "before Barack Obama's candidacy had any traction," O'Brien told reporters at TV critics' press tour in Los Angeles last week. In fact, what turned out to be part one, broadcast in April on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., was the inspiration for further investigation, she said.

That event "led you to ask, 'Well, where are we now? How far have we come since that day where the dream potentially could have died?'"O'Brien said. "This is a topic that deserves four hours of coverage, at least."